A busy week for Lowville firefighters while businesses assess damages

LOWVILLE, New York (WWNY) – Looking at North Main Street in Lowville, where the last bits of puddles are seeping into drains, you’d be hard-pressed to believe that fewer than 48 hours ago, the road looked more like a river.

“Yeah, it looked just like a whitewater rapids course,” said Lowville Fire Chief Joe Austin.

Friday, the Lowville Fire Department was enjoying some downtime after what Austin says were the busiest two days of the year so far. IT was so busy, that Austin had to call in help from 11 departments across Jefferson and Lewis Counties.

“They never gave up. No matter what assignment they got, they took it, they went, and never complained about anything,” said Austin.

Crews spent most of that time trying to clear floodwater from homes. In some cases, it was up to 8 feet deep.

The department has been using portable water pumps to clear up flooded basements throughout the week.

Austin tells us they usually pump out around 30 basements in an average storm. This week, they’ve pumped out more than 200.

“The community was very grateful from what I’ve heard. They understood that we were up to our ears in water, literally,” said Austin.

That water is gone, and now property owners are picking up the pieces.

The flood carved a path of destruction through downtown businesses like Mike’s Appliances. Brand new stoves were destroyed and the owner estimates total damages to be somewhere around $100 thousand.

“When the water rose, it picked everything up and set it down when everything came out,” said John Purvines, Owner of Mike’s Appliances.

It was not a good sight. Things aren’t any better next door at Jeb’s Restaurant.

Owner Emerson Metzler says he lost nearly everything in the basement, and it’s going to cost him.

“We’re well over $100 thousand at this point. We’re quickly heading towards $200 thousand [in damages],” said Metzler.

The affected business owners plan to check with their insurance companies about the losses and may seek out state or federal help as well.

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